Summary
Golda Meir was the Iron Lady of Israeli politics, a straight-talking, intransigent leader who once said, "There is a type of woman who does not let her husband narrow her horizons". She is the choice of former Conservative government minister Edwina Currie. Golda Meir was born in Kiev and educated in the United States, but moved to Palestine her twenties, just after the First World War. One of the signatories on Israel's Declaration of Independence in 1948, Meir was elected to the Knesset and stayed there until she retired in her late sixties. But when prime minister Levi Eshkol died unexpectedly she was called back to take his place. She was the compromise candidate but stayed there for five years and was in power during the Yom Kippur War. Edwina Currie admires her conviction and humanity, and that fact that she reminds her of her granny. Ahron Bregman from the Department of War Studies at Kings College London, served in the Israeli army and was present at Golda Meir's funeral. Unlike Edwina, Ahron thinks Golda Meir made some unforgiveable mistakes.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | My name is Annie Matmanis and my name is Nick Grimshaw. How long have we known each other babe? |
| 0:05.0 | Probably 20 years now and in that time we've always worked in and around music right? |
| 0:10.0 | We have. So it kind of makes sense that we do a podcast better. It sounds |
| 0:13.9 | like he's been 20 years in the making. It's not a avatar for podcasts basically, but it is good. |
| 0:18.6 | So we put the world to rights with regards to music. It's all the stuff that you'd want to chat to your mate about over a pint. |
| 0:24.7 | Sidetracked with us Annie and Nick listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:29.8 | Thank you for downloading this great lives podcast from BBC Radio 4. |
| 0:34.3 | For more information and details of other podcasts, |
| 0:36.9 | just visit BBC.co. UK slash radio 4. |
| 0:41.3 | Our subject today was described as the Iron Lady and the only man in the cabinet. |
| 0:46.7 | As Prime Minister she was formatively strong-willed, straight talking and an intransigent |
| 0:51.4 | leader who devoted her life to politics. |
| 0:54.9 | But she was not the Prime Minister of Britain, but of Israel. |
| 0:59.0 | She's Goldemayer, Israeli stateswoman and the original Iron Lady. Born in 1898 in Kyiv and dying in 1978 in Jerusalem, |
| 1:09.0 | she was the only woman among the founding fathers of the state of Israel. She became |
| 1:13.9 | Prime Minister at the age of 70 and became known around the world as the |
| 1:18.1 | grandmother of the Jewish people. Here she is talking in that incredibly deep voice in 1971 as Prime Minister. |
| 1:26.0 | Our neighbours, I believe, are much more apt to refrain from war and to be more acceptable to peace negotiations if Israel is a strong Israel, whereas the Israel that is a weaker Israel is |
| 1:48.7 | no inducement neither for peace nor for negotiation. |
| 1:53.7 | And with me nominating Goldemayier as her great life |
| 1:57.6 | is a guest who will have heard a million times the remark that she needs no introduction followed by a lengthy and tedious |
| 2:04.8 | introduction but she really doesn't need one and she's Eduina Curry. |
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